Silent Night

 Merry Christmas, to those who celebrate. I normally mark the occasion with churches, as is the case this year. I start in the Glebe, with this night view of Glebe-St. James, a United Church.

Nearby is St. Giles Presbyterian Church.

Elsewhere in the city, downtown on Cathedral Hill is St. Peter's Lutheran Church.

Its neighbour is Christ Church Cathedral, an Anglican church.

And a few blocks away we find St. Patrick Basilica, a Catholic church.

On another night, I passed by St. Matthew's, an Anglican church in the Glebe.

Some days later, I stopped by St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church downtown. It occupies a prominent spot on Wellington Street, across from the Supreme Court of Canada.

Here we see St. Peter and St. Paul's, an Anglican church downtown.

This is the Peace Tower Church, on the edge of the Chinatown neighbourhood.

I took these two shots on the grounds at the National Gallery of Canada, with Notre Dame across the street. The statue of Maman, by Louise Bourgeois, is irresistible to match with the Catholic church.

Notre Dame is pretty much the pre-eminent church in the city, and absolutely beautiful inside.

Across the street on the south side of the church is the entry into a series of courtyards winding through the Byward Market. At that entrance, mounted high on a pedestal is the statue of an angel. Very fitting for Christmas.

Odds And Ends Within The Capital

 I have some odds and ends from the last few weeks for you today and tomorrow. I start with sunflowers, planted around the east end of the property at Lansdowne Park in the Glebe. These were taken around mid-August.

A couple of days later, when I went to visit the Canada Aviation and Space Museum, my route took me on foot from where I had left the bus. The path that parallels the Aviation Parkway goes through wild grasses, bordered by woods. An ideal late summer spot to be in.

After my visit, heading to meet another bus for the return trip home, I took two shots of Beechwood Cemetery from its east side. This cemetery is a national cemetery, including sections set aside as a military cemetery. Along with many regular people, those buried here include a prime minister, and many historical figures from the city and the nation.

I chose to head back by going through the St. Laurent LRT station a short bus drive away. The LRT line has an art program, with a work of art in or around each of the stations. This one features a large wall mural, titled I Gave It All I Had, by Andrew Morrow, done in 2020.

This is close to home. This summer at a park near my place, this statue set of a dalmatian and fire hydrant was put up.

A pair of sculptures downtown that I occasionally photograph- the hunter and the prey. They stand opposite each other, with an island of vegetation between them, outside an office tower. The deer is alert, as if hearing something.

At the far side, an Indigenous hunter has the deer in his sights, reaching for an arrow. But already too late- the deer's posture is as if it already knows he's there, and is about to sprint away.

This used to be close to home to me, as I lived just up the street beyond the next intersection, but I still see it often enough. The Chinatown Arch spans over Somerset Street, with the bulk of the Chinatown neighbourhood to its west, behind me. I photographed it one evening while in between buses, on my way home.

A regular feature, though one I haven't photographed from this angle. The future main branch of the Ottawa Public Library, which will share some space with Library and Archives Canada, is near finished at Lebreton Flats. I've normally photographed it from the north or the east, but this is from the west, on the bridge passing over the Pimisi LRT station tracks. 

As mentioned above, each station has some sort of art. This station has part of that art in the adjacent water channel. This channel is an artificial channel, from the Ottawa River that feeds into the Fleet Street Pumping Station nearby. A platform in the channel provides the base for this sculpture, which looks like an eel. Appropriate, because Pimisi means eel in Algonquin, a nod to the presence of eels in the Ottawa River.

A short walk away, I stopped at the Canadian War Museum, where the national, provincial, and territorial flags are lined up on the plaza, looking dramatic against that sky. I took advantage of my  museum membership to stop in for a bite to eat- they make a good burger in the museum cafe.

And I finish today with summer flowers. These are in the Garden of the Provinces and Territories.

Mixed Shots

I have some odds and ends for the next couple of days, taken over the last few weeks. In late August, I was passing by the Garden of the Provinces and Territories and saw a flock of Canada geese having lunch. 

They have a reputation for being cranky, but if you don't bother them, they're fine.

In the garden itself, these flowers caught my eye.

Sunflowers flourish here in August and September.

One night in September I used the zoom lens on my phone to catch the full Moon. It was a mostly clear night, with some wisps of cloud traveling across the sky, creating a different effect in these two shots.

These large raccoon sculptures are outside the Glebe Community Centre in the Glebe, by a local artist. I don't recall photographing them before, though they've been here for years.

This odd sign in Chinatown caught my eye. By fine arts, I'd assume reproductions of reproductions and not original works. The real paintings wouldn't be sold by an auction house that puts out this sort of signage. Well, maybe Warhol, but I don't consider his work to be art.

I finish today at Lansdowne Park, where this statue of two Olympic athletes is set up at the east side of the property, near the Rideau Canal. You may remember it when last I featured it, during the Tulip Festival. Different flowers spend the summer growing in this flowerbed around the statue.

Ends And Odds In A National Capital

I have some more odds and ends shots for you today. On the night we had the supermoon earlier this month, I went out to Lansdowne Park, where in the park area, I took this shot looking east at a large water sculpture, with stars and planets beyond. 

Turning around, I took this shot looking towards the stadium to the west, with the Moon high overhead.

A typical late summer sky here. These brooding clouds brought some late day rain after I took this shot up in the north end of the Glebe. Past mid-August, we can still have hot days, but heat waves tend to be largely over by then.

This is the Chinatown Arch, seen from the west, where it welcomes people into the neighbourhood.

The World Exchange Plaza is an office complex in the downtown core. During Covid, the building ownership decided on a serious overhaul of the interior three floors, which are retail and food court, and that was largely done by the end of last year. But a lot of the terrace area outside was reconfigured, and only recently reopened.

Across the street is a pair of sculptures. At one spot is an aboriginal hunter, crouched and reaching for an arrow, looking across the garden at his prey.

Here at the far side is a deer, who, from the body language, has already sensed danger and is about to run.

Pindigen Park is at Lebreton Flats, near the War Museum. Developed in collaboration with local First Nations peoples, this quiet park includes metal cut sculptures of animals.

A short walk away, the Fleet Street Pumping Station dates to 1875 and lies on the other side of the bridge, where a channel of the Ottawa River flows through. Beyond it, the future main branch of the Ottawa Public Library is taking shape.

Lastly, taken just yesterday, this cutie pie is close to home for me.